Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I thank the member for Gorton and the opposition for their support of the bill. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals and Other Measures) Bill 2020 makes amendments to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to strengthen Australia's customs practice. The bill will incorporate Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2020 and Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) 2020, tabled in parliament in May and August of last year. These proposals provide a temporary concession for medical supplies such as face masks, soaps and eyewear, which were urgently required to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

This bill makes a series of amendments to improve the functionality of the act and ensure it remains in line with international practice. The bill will create new tariff classifications separately, identify certain foods and beverages and insert new additional notes to align Australia's tariff practice with international practice for goods, including wheelie bins, metal pipes and metal profiles. The bill will remove the $12,000 special duty on used and second-hand motor vehicles from two free trade agreements to align the duty rates applied on these goods across all schedules of the act. The bill also removes the several redundant provisions, including the removal of a free trade agreement, due to phasing rates agreements that have expired. I thank all those who participated in the debate, and I commend the bill to the House.

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